Mount Taranaki, also called Mount Egmont, mountain, west-central North Island, New Zealand, on the Taranaki Peninsula. The symmetrical volcanic cone rises from sea level to 8,260 ft (2,518 m) and has a subsidiary cone, 6,438-ft Fanthams Peak, 1 mi (1.5 km) south of the main crater. Both have been dormant since the early 17th century. Streams issuing from the snowfields at the summit have carved deep gorges down the slopes. Dense forests clothe the mountain, giving way to the fertile plain at its base. Mt. Taranaki is the youngest and most southerly of a group of volcanoes, including Pouakai and Kaitake, that are within Egmont National Park. The peak was sighted (1770) by the British navigator Capt. James Cook and was first climbed in 1839.

View of the ring plain encircling Mt. Taranaki, New Zealand.

G.R. Roberts, Nelson, N.Z.

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in New Zealand

island country in the South Pacific Ocean, the southwesternmost part of Polynesia. New Zealand is a remote land—one of the last sizable territories suitable for habitation to be populated and settled—and lies more than 1,000 miles (1,600 km) southeast of Australia, its nearest...

...downland region is fertile until it fades into a coastal plain dominated by sand dunes. To the west of the Volcanic Plateau, fairly mountainous country merges into the undulating farmlands of the Taranaki region, where the mild climate favours dairy farming even on the slopes of Mount Taranaki (Mount Egmont), a volcano that has been dormant since the 17th century. North of Mount Taranaki are...

The local scenery is dominated by Mount Taranaki (Egmont), a large volcano. Taranaki is an important dairying area, concentrating on the fertile “ring plain” circling the volcano. The region’s principal towns include New Plymouth, Hawera, Stratford, Inglewood, Waitara, Eltham, and Patea. Area 2,802 square miles (7,257 square km). Pop. (2006) 104,124; (2012 est.) 110,100.